Is Overclockng worth doing?

weeroo · 21 Feb 2013 at 14:07

is overclocking worth doing?

my set up is as follows...

i5 3570k
z77x-d3h
Kuhler h20 620
cm 700w psu
8gb corsair vengence
*edit* gigabyte HD 7950

i really do not have a clue about overclocking. i have tried to teach myself but i cant seem the grasp it.

BluD · 21 Feb 2013 at 14:19

Its worth doing if your doing it because its fun, or because you need more power. You'll proberbly get that cpu up to 4.5ghz without much hassel.

You have a seperate graphics card? if ya play high graphics games, you can run them a lot smoother with a little overclocking, but you would need a pci graphics card.

weeroo · 21 Feb 2013 at 14:21

how could i forget to add my GPU. its a gigabyte HD 7950.

setter · 21 Feb 2013 at 14:24

Yep, i play a lot of bf3. At stock speed, there was a bit of a bottleneck with my cpu as i run a fairly high clocked gpu. An oc to 4.2ghz using asus turbo v helped with this. But i wanted a bit more so read up on clocking theese cpu's, got some advice on here and pushed it a bit further using the bios, (the proper way).

Anox · 21 Feb 2013 at 14:38

It's a no brainier, It not only is fun, it greatly increases performance of said chip considerably.

weeroo · 21 Feb 2013 at 14:39

what software should i download to OC the CPU? i will download them when i get home from work.

setter · 21 Feb 2013 at 14:42

I wouldnt bother clocking via software, bios all the way. Theese programs have a tendency to use too much voltage therefore leading to higher temps. Have a search for guides concerning your particular board. Study theese and ask on here and people will only be to glad to help.

BluD · 21 Feb 2013 at 14:46

you basically have a overclocking machine fella

weeroo · 21 Feb 2013 at 14:53

4.5ghz with an i5 3570k seems to be popular.

i will read up on my board later with some rough guides and then come on here and annoy you guys

Devrij · 21 Feb 2013 at 15:19

Simply put, once you get into the bios all you need to do is change the cpu frequency multiplier to 42 (to give you 4.2GHz) and you may need a slight bump to the core voltage to keep it stable. 4.5GHz will definitely need a bit more voltage (maybe 1.27-1.3V), but should be easily achievable.

There are some great guides on here that are more nuanced, but these chips are very easy to clock. And it's a crime not to get free performance!

weeroo · 21 Feb 2013 at 15:37

so when i set the multiplier to 42 i just gradually up the core voltage bit by bit?

ones question...

if the pc crashes . i just reset the cmos? and start again?

weeroo · 21 Feb 2013 at 15:46

i have found a video which might help

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NxCPyF-1tTc

Devrij · 21 Feb 2013 at 16:17

weeroo said:
so when i set the multiplier to 42 i just gradually up the core voltage bit by bit?

ones question...

if the pc crashes . i just reset the cmos? and start again?

Not usually necessary. If the overclock is so unstable that you can't even get into the BIOS, THEN you reset the CMOS, but if it just crashes during testing in windows you can just go back into the BIOS and make changes in there.

If you set 1.25V and multiplier to 42, that is almost guaranteed stable. There are other things to do as well to get the most out of it, but those two steps alone would get you to 4.2GHz.

generally it's better to start with a voltage you know will be stable and then notch it down a bit at a time, testing each one, until you find the limit. Then notch the volts up one notch and you're set.

Or you can set the voltage you don't want to go above (1.34V would be as far as I would want to go, ideally under 1.3V, and temps should be under 80C under prime95 testing) and raise the multiplier until it crashes under testing, and drop the multi down one step.

weeroo · 21 Feb 2013 at 16:28

i will try and set 1.25v and multipler to 42 when i get home. should i download prime95 and test this in windows?

once im happy that its stable should i then push for a high OC?

weeroo · 21 Feb 2013 at 16:28

sorry for all this. i havnt a clue.

Devrij · 21 Feb 2013 at 16:30

weeroo said:
i have found a video which might help

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NxCPyF-1tTc

That's a good video guide and the UD3H is very similar to the D3H (I have the same board as you). I don't bother with the 3D bios, just because it's a little more straightforwards to use the old list version.

If you have problems with the BIOS loading, btw, unplug any game controllers from the USB ports as they don't like it for some reason.

Prime 95 is a definite handy tool, as is Realtemp (for keeping an eye on your temps).

Prime95 stresses the cpu and is generally used for several hours on blend mode (keep an eye on temps), but what I use to roughly guage stability in a faster way is Intel Burn Test or LinX (same program really), which will give you worst case scenario temps and quickly pick up any obvious instability.

Once I find what I think is my best stable config I generally test with LinX for 5 runs, if that's stable and temps are good then I run 30 mins of prime95, and if that's okay then I just play some games for a few hours.

Devrij · 21 Feb 2013 at 16:35

weeroo said:
sorry for all this. i havnt a clue.

We all had to start somewhere. I'm happy to help and have nearly identical hardware so any questions are easily answered.

weeroo · 21 Feb 2013 at 16:39

great mate thanks. i will be starting in an hour or so. so expect more of me haha

Smoogels · 21 Feb 2013 at 16:40

On the same motherboard + CPU I got to about 4.2 without touching any voltage settings. I'm happily sitting at 4.4GHz now with 1.2v. Overclocking this processor is pretty simple and it certainly worth a look at, since it only takes a few minutes to set a overclock then you can leave stress test etc running when you are out or something.

weeroo · 21 Feb 2013 at 16:47

im gona set it to 1.25v and the multi to 42 and ifs its stable i will leave a stress test while i watch the football.